China to account for 33% of global 5G users by 2025

China is expected to account for at least one-third of the global 5G users by 2025, Zhao Dachun, vice-general manager of a major telecom operator, China Mobile, said during a parallel forum of the third China Enterprise Reform and Development Forum on Nov 3.

Zhao said by 2025, a total of 409 telecom operators will offer 5G commercial services to 1.6 billion people in 117 countries and regions.

"5G will become the aorta of the information society, the accelerator of the industrial transformation and the footstone of digital society." Quoting the statistics of IHS Markit, he said 5G will fuel the growth in all sectors to a scale of $12.3 trillion by 2035 globally.

He said: "5G is not only a network but also the accelerator for new technologies such as AI, IoT, cloud computing, big data and edge computing. The blend of these technologies with 5G will contribute to the digital transforms in hundreds of thousands of industries."

So far, 50 telecom operators have been offering 5G networks globally, serving more than 5 million users. "The development of 5G in domestic market is also robust," said Zhao. As of September, 86,000 5G base stations had been put into run under three major Chinese telecom operators, and the number of stations is expected to exceed 130,000 by the year end.

But road ahead is still rough and bumpy, Zhao added, as the present technology is still not mature, commercial mode lacks innovation and operation cost is high.